Voice of British Muslim Women

Kholood Tahir Munir 

If one was to ever ask me what true sisterhood is, I would bring them to Jalsa. I would show them, how even from the very moment you set foot out of your car, you will probably encounter a sister who is getting out of hers. You will smile widely at each other and extend the peace and the blessings of Allah to each other. By the time you’ve walked through the parking lot and reached security, you’ve probably exchanged greetings a dozen times more, and as you walk through security into the heart of the ladies Jalsa arena, the number of times you have extended peace and greetings to others probably nears a hundred. As you stand there, at the heart of the Jalsa arena and look around, you will see sisters managing and leading teams, you will see sisters serving meals and giving buggy lifts to the elderly, you will see sisters providing security and medical attention. You will see sisters of varying races, ages and backgrounds, all talking, laughing and greeting each other, you will see sisters from completely different walks of life, but all with the same wide smile on their faces. 

Perhaps something you will not see, but only feel deep in your heart, is the strong unbreakable bond of unity and the overwhelming sense of love and friendship for each other, which, despite not being able to attend Jalsa in person, is still ever present this year and possibly even stronger this year than ever before. 

You see, the beauty of Lajna Imaillah is that wherever we may be, be it at the Jalsa arena or this year, as an exception due to the pandemic, most of us at home watching through the blessings of MTA, we are seeing that we are still united in so many ways. We are all united in purpose, striving to expand on our spirituality and strengthen our religious knowledge during these three days; we are all united under one leader, our beloved Khalifa, whose addresses and even a hint of his beautiful smile during the poem recitations are the biggest highlights of our year; and most importantly, day and night, we are united in prayer and our collective yearning to worship and seek the pleasure of Almighty God. There is no denying that an empowering and uplifting sense of unity can be felt whichever part of the world we may be in, and that even though this year due to Covid safety measure we are not together in person, we are still deeply immersed in the spirit of sisterhood even from our homes. 

Growing up amongst this nurturing sense of community, I have personally learnt so many lessons of determination, talent, resilience and independence and today for the first time in our lives whilst experiencing a Jalsa Salana remotely, via television, I am realising the incredible power of it from afar. In these three days, as millions of sisters across the world dedicate themselves to expanding their knowledge through the Jalsa programmes and devote themselves to increased prayers and worship, the true spirit of sisterhood permeates across each continent; we realise that physical proximity means nothing in the face of the pure and genuine love, and the lasting bonds of friendship and unity amongst us. It is indeed a global sisterhood transcending physical borders; it is a sisterhood of hearts.